


sepia

by crowquake



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, help this is longer than i thought it’d be, warnings for brief injury and drugs mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 09:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21134396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowquake/pseuds/crowquake
Summary: remus hasn’t seen deceit since the duke’s debut





	sepia

**Author's Note:**

> i only read over this like once after i finished it and it’s not beta read or anything like that so if it sucks then suffer ig (jk ily i hope this doesn’t suck lol)  
i legit just started writing this because i wanted remus to caress deceits face how did this end up so long for the love of god please help m-  
also if u wanna know how i imagine the mindscape works, here https://crowquake.tumblr.com/post/188513518449/okay-okay-so-like-i-always-see-the-mindscape

remus sat on the edge of his roof, swinging his legs back and forth and humming to the tune of some random song that might’ve been about either bdsm or vampires, he wasn’t quite sure.

since revealing himself to thomas, he’d been feeling the need to get out of the house more often. a taste of freedom, and he couldn’t get enough. he took a deep breath in, soaking in the dull sunlight that just barely permeated the ever-present dark clouds that swirled over the dark sides cul-de-sac. it was almost funny how cheery the light sides, uh, _side_ of things looked in comparison (virgil’s house being an exception, but even then it looked better than it did before it moved).

he realised he hadn’t seen deceit since remus’ grand debut, and found himself wondering why that was. deceit usually visits at least once a month, and it had been several since the video, so he was starting to miss his scaly companion. jumping down from the rooftop (and shattering his ankles in the process, but he healed them fairly quickly), he decided to see what the snake was up to himself.

marching over to deceits perpetually sepia-tone home, he waved to one of the many snakes that slithered throughout the area surrounding it. they never left the sphere of golden brown that hung around the house like fog, causing everything within it to look like an old photograph. remus had often wondered how deceit did that, but had never asked. he was creativity, he could figure it out himself, right? yeah.

after blowing a kiss to a king brown snake, he cheerily skipped up and knocked on the door, then waited. after a few seconds of silence, he knocked again.

“deceeeeit! it’s remus!” he called out, and after another few seconds he heard a muffled ‘it’s unlocked’. he slowly opened the door, hoping for it to creak ominously, and when it didn’t show any signs of doing that he just opened it normally.

remus looked over to the black velvet lounge to see deceit balled up in a bundle of blankets, only his closed eyes visible. the tv was playing a silent movie, dramatic piano music filling the room as two masked men had a sword fight over some damsel in distress on screen.

“uhhh, are you okay?”

“m-my heating broke, somehow, s-s-so i’ve been f-freezing.” now that he looked closer, he could see that the blankets were shaking, a lot.

“well it feels fine to me.” remus noted that the room was even slightly warmer than his own.

“you’re not c-cold blooded, you d-d-dolt.”

“ah, fair point. well you could’ve just told me! i can fix it!”

“is your version of f-fixing it setting the house on fire?” deceit opened his eyes and looked over at the duke, raising an eyebrow.

“oh come on, i’m not that cruel.” he snapped his fingers, and the room immediately started warming up. he shut the front door, and bounded over to sit next to the still shivering snake. “is this why you haven’t been out of the house for months? surely you could’ve at least made it to my place?” deceit shook his head.

“without warmth i’m essentially immobile, it broke while i was asleep so by the time i woke up i could barely get down here.” he wriggled out of the blankets a bit, his usually pristinely combed blond hair now a fuzzy tangled mess. “thank you for fixing my heater, remus,” deceit gave him one of his incredibly rare genuine smiles, causing a splash of pink to appear on remus’ cheeks, “if you could be a dear and make me a hot cup of tea - and only tea, no cocaine or spider eggs like last time - that would be lovely too.”

“alright! you may want to fix that birds nest on your head, though. or is a snakes nest? do snakes have nests?” remus got up and bounced (literally) to the kitchen while deceit laughed softly. remus grabbed two mugs and everything else he needed, then turned the kettle on while deceit talked.

“not generally, no. king cobras do, though,” deceit answered while finger combing his hair; it was still a mess, but it was better, “some snakes don’t even lay eggs.”

“wait, really?” remus leaned on the counter that seperated the kitchen and the living room, waiting for the water to finish boiling.

“yes, really. it’s due to some climates being too cold, or just otherwise unsuitable for eggs.”

a shiver ran through him as his body adjusted to being warmed up again, and he stretched out beneath the blankets. remus giggled quietly at the sound of joints cracking after being still for so long. the sides didn’t necessarily need to eat or drink, so they could theoretically not move for years and they’d still be fine, but that didn’t mean it was comfortable.

the kettle whistled after another minute, and remus went back to making deceit and himself some tea; deceits black with two spoonfuls of sugar, his half milk half water with 4 sugars. he snapped his fingers and they appeared over on the coffee table (he didn’t trust himself not to drop them, and that was fine in his own house, but not here).

he went and sat back on the lounge, and deceit sent him a grateful smile, picking up and sipping his tea. he closed his eyes and hummed softly, and remus silently congratulated himself for doing something right for once.

“thank you for coming over, remus,” deceit said after a few moments of comfortable silence, “lord knows how long i would’ve been stuck here if you hadn’t.”

he was almost completely out of the blankets at this point, only the lower halves of his legs still covered, and he looked more relaxed than remus had ever seen him. to be fair, remus didn’t usually see him in his own home, and the temperature outside can’t have been very relaxing for him.

remus suddenly felt overdressed, being in his full duke uniform while deceit was in a set of plain (probably yellow) silk pyjamas. he usually wouldn’t mind, but he wasn’t really trying to impress anyone at the moment. it was only deceit here. he snapped his fingers and his usually flashy outfit was replaced by comfortable black pants, fuzzy black socks, and a jumper that he hoped was green, a sparkly, cartoony image of a floating eyeball on it.  
deceit did that sort of nose-exhale laugh that you do when you see a kind of funny meme online.

the silent film ended with more dramatic music, and deceit lazily flicked his hand at the tv to change it over to something else. this one seemed to be a romance film.

“what do your scales feel like?” remus asked after a while. they’d finished their tea, and were now just quietly watching the movie. deceit looked over at the duke with a raised eyebrow.

“the same as a regular snakes, i’d presume. i can’t really tell, due to...” he held up his hands, which were also covered by scales, and wiggled his fingers.

“can i touch them?”

“uh, sure?”

instead of going for deceits hands, like he’d presumed remus would, remus shifted and reached over to touch deceits cheek. deceit involuntarily closed his eyes and leaned into the touch as remus caressed his face, running his thumb along the scales on deceits cheekbone. remus laughed softly.

“touch starved?”

“mmm, maybe... and you’re warm...”

“i know something else that could warm you u—“

“don’t ruin the moment.”

“i just meant cuddling or something, geez.”

deceit opened his eyes.

“you don’t really seem like a cuddler.”

“me and my brother do have some similarities, you know.”

“roman’s a cuddler?”

“yup! now scooch that cutie ba-booty over, it’s huggin’ time.”

deceit did as he was told, making room in the blankets for remus to wriggle his way in. the lounge was big enough to comfortably fit both of them side by side, but they were squished pretty close together nonetheless. they moved so they were lying down face to face, and remus pulled the blankets back up over them, hoping the sepia filter would cover his blush.

remus wrapped one arm around deceit, and ran the fingers of his other hand through deceits still slightly tangled hair. deceit curled himself against remus, which was slightly awkward and difficult considering deceit was significantly taller than the duke. remus decided that deceit felt kind of like a noodle; all soft and wiggly. for some reason the thought warmed his heart.

after a few minutes of just lying there, remus whispered “hey, what if we kissed? would that be fucked up or what?”

deceit pulled back and looked at the duke incredulously. _oh no_, hopefully if he got rejected he could just play it off as one of his silly jokes.

“are you capable of asking for things like a normal person, or must you communicate in memes?”

“yes.”

“what does that- oh, nevermind.” deceit leaned in and gently pressed his lips to remus’, whose face had turned bright red (or, a slightly different shade of yellow-brown). he didn’t expect deceit to actually kiss him, but he obviously didn’t mind. once he got over his shock, he closed his eyes and kissed back. it was a little awkward since they were both still sideways, so remus shifted so he was on top of deceit, trying and failing to not break the kiss. deceit quickly pulled him back in when he was in a more comfortable position, though.

one hand held remus up slightly, and the other had moved back to touching deceits scaly cheek. he wasn’t quite used to making out being this... gentle, but he found he didn’t mind. deceits own hands were on the dukes chest, slightly curled into the fabric of his jumper.

“you know,” deceit started when they pulled back for air, “you’re a much better kisser than i would’ve thought.”

“i can’t tell if that was a compliment or an insult, but thank you either way.”

deceit rolled his eyes and leaned up to give remus another, softer kiss, and moved his hands to remus’ waist.

“come on, let’s watch the movie now.” deceit said. remus let himself fall onto the snakey side, and deceit wrapped his arms around him. the couple in the movie were mirroring them almost exactly, it was kind of freaky honestly. speaking of honesty...

“i just realised, you haven’t lied the entire time i’ve been here.”

“mmm, my room actually forces people to speak the truth. well, not forces i guess. basically it’s impossible to lie here.”

“so, if i told you i love you and have for over a year now...”

deceits eyes widened.

“i suppose i’d have to believe you,” he bit his lip, and remus’ eyes were immediately drawn to his fangs, “i can’t say my... affections, for you have lasted quite that long, but you seem to have captured my heart as well, you strange little man.”

“good to know.”

and in another perfect mirror of the movie they were (not) watching, remus leaned in to kiss deceit again.


End file.
